Is Hillary Clinton the New Old Al Gore?

[proud2BlibKansan]

By FRANK RICH
Published: September 30, 2007

THE Democrats can't lose the White House in 2008, can they?


Some 13 months before Election Day, the race's dynamic seems immutable. Americans can't wait to evict the unpopular president and end his disastrous war. As the campaign's poll-tested phrasemaking constantly reminds us, voters crave change above all else. That means nearly any Democrat might do, even if the nominee isn't the first woman, black or Hispanic to lead a major party's ticket.

The Republican field of aging white guys, meanwhile, gets flakier by the day. The front-runner has taken to cooing to his third wife over a cellphone in the middle of campaign speeches. His hottest challenger, the new "new Reagan," may have learned his lines for "Law & Order," but clearly needs cue cards on the stump. In Florida, even the most rudimentary details of red-hot local issues (drilling in the Everglades, Terri Schiavo) eluded him. The party's fund-raising is anemic. Its snubs of Hispanic and African-American voters kissed off essential swing states in the Sun Belt and moderate swing voters farther north.

So nothing can go wrong for the Democrats. Can it?

Of course it can, and not just because of the party's perennial penchant for cutting off its nose to spite its face. (Witness the Democratic National Committee's zeal in shutting down primary campaigning in Florida because the state moved up the primary's date.) The biggest indicator of potential trouble ahead is that the already-codified Beltway narrative for the race so favors the Democrats. Given the track record of Washington's conventional wisdom, that's not good news. These are the same political pros who predicted that scandal would force an early end to the Clinton presidency and that "Mission Accomplished" augured victory in Iraq and long-lasting Republican rule.

more . . . http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/opinion/30rich.html?hp

[FreakinDJ]

1. Fat Chance

[Danieljay]

2. The woman doesn't hold a candle to Al Gore, and if/when she loses the general,

it wont have anything to do voter fraud or stolen elections.

How do you like that for a vote of confidence? And no, I don't "hate" her.

[KoKo]

3. Hard to know what to make of this article by Frank Rich....

His detestable references to Al Gore are a big turnoff. I wonder who Mr. Rich's fave candidate is....Maybe no one.

just one of the from the article:

Senator Clinton may well be the Democrats' most accomplished would-be president. But we won't know for certain until she's tested by events she can't control. Had Bill Bradley roughed up Mr. Gore in 2000, it might have jolted him into running a smarter race against George W. Bush.

[Uncle Joe]

6. Frank Rich is one of the people that enabled Bush to power, here is a sample of some of his work.

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh060906.shtml

READ EACH INSTALLMENT: We had to laugh when a certain pundit reviewed Al Gore’s deeply troubling new film. But then, Frank Rich has produced this sort of nonsense for years. Be sure to read every installment:

PART 1: Gore was right on every big judgment—but Rich is in love with a narrative. See THE DAILY HOWLER, 5/31/06.

PART 2: Gore had made a string of sound judgments. But omigod! Someone laughed at his jokes! See THE DAILY HOWLER, 6/1/06.

PART 3: Rich says Gore was right in 2002. In 2002, he said different. See THE DAILY HOWLER, 6/2/06.

PART 4: Before the Swift Boats, Rich invented Love Story. See THE DAILY HOWLER, 6/5/06.

PART 5: Right to the end, he Frankly proclaimed—Gore was a clown, just like Bush. See THE DAILY HOWLER, 6/7/06.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. All the more reason to heed what he is saying now, IMO.

[Uncle Joe]

13. Do you mean we should heed the advice of the same man that slandered Al Gore

while giving Bush a free pass to the White House?

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. I didn't say to honor him

Trust me, I despise what he did to Gore as well. But he obviously has a fair amount of influence and for that reason, we need to keep an eye on him and pay attention to what he says.

[Uncle Joe]

18. I believe the primary reason, the corporate media slandered and trashed Al Gore

relentlessly while giving Bush a free pass is because Al Gore empowered us when he championed the Internet, threatening their monopoly on information. I don't trust Frank Rich anymore.

[mod mom]

22. Gore broke away from the corporatists in 2000 to become a populist. DLC

members still refuse to acknowledge his win in 2000 and blame his "loss" on moving away from their "centrist" position. I believe they realize a Gore (or Kerry in '04) win would have put the dampers on a corporatist/DLC (Hillary) run in 2008.

WE NEED A UNITER NOT A CALCULATING OPPORTUNIST WHO WORKS FOR THE LOBBYIST & CORPORATE ELITISTS.

[ThomWV]

4. Al's Election was stolen from him as we watched, Hillary would simply lose her's.

I honestly think she is the only candidate we could run who would actually lose the election. Far to many people hate her. She is the only candidate who will bring out Republican voters, she is the only one who can reunite the religious right against Democrats.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. I agree

but I do believe Al ran a rather poor campaign.

[cascadiance]

8. Thanks to the DC consultants, which I think he's since learned to keep a distance from...

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Yes that is true

I don't mean to imply his poor campaign is the reason he didn't become president. :)

[undeterred]

7. Hillary would fight like a mad wet cat.

She would give us the fight we did not see from Gore or Kerry if anyone tried to steal the election out from under her.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. What makes you say that?

I heard the same thing in 2004 about Kerry. Why would Hillary fight? What about her makes you say that?

[undeterred]

14. She's carrying herself with so much confidence right now

I just can't imagine her politely conceding. I think the difference is that she knows what happened during the last two elections and she knows it can happen again- and she is going to be a lot more ready for it than Kerry was.

[KittyWampus]

27. she knows what happened last 2 elections & said NOTHING about it cause she wants the nod in 08

[chaumont58]

11. If a way can be found to keep Bob Shrum from becoming campaign manager

the Dems will have a chance.

[opihimoimoi]

15. FUCK FRANK RICH....who gives a fuck what a closet Pub sez? He is part of a huge plan

to denigrate any Dem that appears threatening...

People get paid to do this....thats the Republican Way....In the Old Days..it was called BrainWashing...now its called PsyOps..

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Ignore them at our peril

[opihimoimoi]

19. It can also be said EMBRACE THEM AT OUR DEMISE

[cali]

20. What???

Closet pub? That's nuts. He may be a curmudgeon, but he's no pub, and many are the times that he's dead flat on target.

[Emit]

21. I agree, cali.

I can't imagine Rich as a closet pub. No way.

[cali]

23. Which brings us to a larger question

When we don't like what a certain opinion writer puts out there, why is it that the concensus so swifly becomes: "he/she is really a pub/owned by the the corporatists"? Same thing with polls that aren't favorable.

[BlooInBloo]

24. Because anything not-mean about Clinton has to be characterized....

... the same way DUers characterize Clinton herself - it's one way DUers have for dealing with the cognitive dissonance of someone big not-hating Clinton.

[cali]

25. Yeah, but this extends far beyond the Clintons

It's absurd. Here we have a thread of people echoing the "he's really a closet repup" line, mindlessly. and as I said it's not just about the Clintons.

[opihimoimoi]

26. If he is dead flat....many times....why should we listen to him???

[cali]

28. How about because he's one of the most astute

political/social observers around from a lefty perspective and writes damn well, too?

I mean, do you even know who he is?

[opihimoimoi]

29. If he is dead flat...how can he be astute?

[cali]

30. Or for fuck's sake

Could you be any sillier? Let me put it this way: He's often spot on.

[opihimoimoi]

31. Goggtle the many sites about this man...he is an ASS....esp since he dumped on GORE

for that I am amazed he is still on the Job...

Many of the sites are NOT kind to Frank....go figure

and...fuck him...astute my ass...he should stick to arts and culture which is his background...

[cali]

32. It's pretty clear you rely on other people to make up your mind

for you. I don't. Ever.

[opihimoimoi]

33. I really try to be objective in my ponderings...I keep up, listen to many

sources, etc

I try to be analytical when making decisions and yes, try to understand the other side of the equation...

I review the whole picture as best as I can...with what is the best for the Nation/Planet/Humanity in mind....

For now, I agree to disagree...


Peace be with You and for Humanity